SAN FRANCISCO, November 21, (THEWILL) – The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has urged the National Assembly (NASS) to hold public hearing on the hate speech bill to ensure the views of Nigerians were captured in the passage of the bill.
NGF Vice Chairman and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, gave the advice while fielding questions from newsmen at the end of the forum meeting held on Wednesday night in Abuja.
“I am not sure I have heard any governor come out to say he is in support of death penalty for hate speech.
“I believe the National Assembly should hold a public hearing on that bill, so that due process of lawmaking is followed, so that the views of Nigerians not just the governors will be well captured on that bill.
“They should respect the views of Nigerians in whatever may be the direction of debate and the eventual passage or otherwise of that bill,” Tambuwal said.
On the December deadline for the implementation of minimum wage issued by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to state governors, Tambuwal said the various states were engaging labour unions on the issue.
“I am sure it is work in progress. Before December all the states must have finished working out the details on the issue of minimum wage across the federation.
“We are very much committed to the welfare and wellbeing of our workforce and therefore we shall continue to ensure we do our best on what needs to be done.”
The meeting was attended by governors of Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Niger, Imo, Adamawa, and Kwara.
Other states such as Gombe, Enugu, Edo, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Oyo and Ebonyi were represented by their deputy governors.
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